


Nothing Good is Easy

by Measured_Words



Category: Diablotin
Genre: Ander thinks too much, Multi, Politics, Polyamory, Psyra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-20 05:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22077001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/pseuds/Measured_Words
Summary: The Imperial Couple (and Ralf) on an official Visit to the Psyrene Dutchies.Just Psyra Feels :3
Relationships: Ralf Enderlen/Janelle Rionet/Ander Suterre
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Nothing Good is Easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nary/gifts).



Ander remembered being on the other side of this. For every excited grunt – uniform pressed, boots shined and face scrubbed – who couldn't wait for their chance to meet one of the Imperial Family, there were several grumbling about it. He'd always told his troops that either way that it was better to make an effort at the outset. It was better to impress if possible – at the very least it would be over faster. 

The troops here were the same mix of anxious and bored that he remembered. At least anyone still in the army was probably there because they wanted to be, so there was less seething resentment. Less that he could discern, anyway. He looked up and caught Janelle's eye as she waited for him on the dias. She smiled encouragingly, knowing well how he felt about this kind of thing.

Slowing his pace, Ander stopped in front of a young-looking girl – Private Baykara. She stiffened, eyes going wide. She was as well turned-out as the rest, but he knew how nerve wracking it must be, and nodded as he fulfilled the pretence of the inspection. "How old are you, Private?"

"Eighteen, sir. Your Majesty."

"Sir is fine." It would do, if anything had to. "Where are you from?"

"Ityar." She sounded uncertain, probably expecting to have to explain where that was.

"Not too far from home then." It was in the next county over. "How long have you been enlisted?"  
Baykara blushed. "Fourteen months, sir."

After the war, then, and recently enough that she probably hadn't even seen any of the clean-up actions. He smiled. "Keep up the good work."

Ander stopped to talk to a few others, but after a long day of tours, inspections, and uncomfortable jeep riders, Baykara was the one who stuck with him. He was thinking about her as he stepped out onto the balcony for a cigarette and a break from some of the more obsequious local dignitaries. The manor where his and Janelle's entourage were being hosted was empty save for them – partly security, partly a misguided attempt to impress with the opulence of the place. It just felt empty and desolate. It was haunted, and tonight Baykara was one of its ghosts.

The door clicked softly behind him, and Ander straightened from where he'd been leaning on the rail overlooking the deserted courtyard below. It was, unexpectedly, Janelle, and he relaxed again as she slipped her arm around his waist.

"I told them we'd had a long day, and would like to retire early." She smiled and gave him a squeeze to quell his protest. He wasn't tired, not really. "I don't need to watch you tear out host apart, however gentle you think you're being. And maybe I am tired."

"Maybe what you need is a fresh jug of wine, and to come sit with me down by that pool with all them palm trees down there."

Janelle pressed herself closer, leaning against him. "Since we have the whole place to ourselves, I think that sounds lovely."

Ander smiled, offering his arm. Ralf, who hadn’t been at the meeting, must have heard that it was over, and joined them on the stairs with a bottle of wine and a fresh pack of smokes. Whiskey was in short supply, and couldn't compete with the local vineyards trying to curry Imperial favour. It all seemed fine to him, but he'd never been much of a connoisseur. The bottle they opened by the pool was a red, a little on the sweet side, but it made the Sovereigns taste all the smoother.

Janellle stripped off shoes and stockings to dangle her feet in the water. Ralf joined her, but Ander had stretched out on one of the lounging chairs, and was content to watch Ralf steal a few kisses as they sat together. It was the most relaxed he'd felt all trip, which was probably Janelle's whole purpose in evicting their hosts.

Psyra was complicated. Driving through the countryside in a jeep, even given all the changes in the past few years, still made him feel on edge. Ralf clearly felt the same. Janelle's experiences as a nurse had been different that what they'd experienced at the front, but they had marked her all the same. Before the trip they'd all agreed that it was important to visit, and all recognized that it wasn't going to be easy. 

They'd also agreed not to let anyone tell them things were better. It was clear that the wound in the empire was healing painfully, and Ander's nerves on the drive hadn't been entirely misplaced. There were still plenty of insurgents, and more crawling out of the woodwork at the prospect of an official visit by the Empress and her husband. It was big news everywhere, and the security measures were intense. As alone as they felt at the moment, he knew the house was being carefully guarded and monitored. In the morning, they'd be teleporting to the next stop on their itinerary, just as a precaution.

Ander sighed, and the others looked up from their canoodling.

"You okay up there all alone?" Ralf cocked his head, half invitation, half challenge.

"Fine. Just thinkin' is all."

"Thinkin' too much, you mean."

"Yeah, same as ever." He took another drag and leaned back, looking up at the sky – everything was clearer out here than in the city. He didn't know too much about the stars, but he could recognize the main constellations well enough to know that even they showed different faces out here.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Janelle asked. She learned on Ralf, twisting around to face Ander.

He hadn't meant to disturb them – he'd thought they were too wrapped up in each other to notice, but he should have known better. Still, he gave the question some thought before he answered, knowing they wouldn't let him brush them off if he wasn't being honest. "I dunno." He paused, and they waited for him. "There was this Psyrene kid at one of the inspections today. Barely enough to enlist, eager as anything – I can't figure if that’s a sign we're doin' somethin' really right or really wrong."

"How do you mean?"

"Folks here have got more reason to resent us than not – even the ones who were on our side. Most don't even know everything, because we don't dare tell 'em even after everything that's changed." He swore every investigative report coming out of the new Warlord's office was more disturbing than the last, and he wasn't convinced they'd actually managed to rout out the worst of the corruption, but the war and its handling were enough of a sore point for most. "What are we telling a kid like that to make them so keen? She'd have lived through it – she should know better. There were plenty of battles in Ityar." Ander shook his head.

"It's hard to know. It could be so many things…"

"It could just be we trashed her home and this is the best bet she'd got to feed herself," Ralf put in grimly.

"Yeah, that ain't on the good list, Ralf."

"It ain't like we're askin' them to turn on their fellows now, is it? I know there's still rebels out there, but that's vets only work."

"Ander." Janelle cut off the 'but still' before it could leave his lips. "We can't get it all right. We can't fix everything. We can only do our best and hope we set up whoever comes next for success. I know that's not going to stop you thinking about it, but that's part of why I wanted us to come – so we can see what is happening here now, not just let every decision we make be grounded in, well, in our own experiences of the war. We can work with what's here now, even if we can never completely understand everything. We have to."

"I know you're right." He shook his head, but he'd been trying to shake his thoughts all day, and it was no more effective now.

"I think you need something else, my dear." Janelle reached out her hand, smiling gently.

"Yeah. Come down here an' sit with us. No more mopin'." Ralf shuffled over to make space between them, and void, they were probably right, he needed to get out of his own head.

Ander kicked off his shoes and socks and rolled up his trousers to come and join them with his feet in the cool waters. Janell wrapped herself around his arm, resting her golden head on his shoulder, and Ralf pressed up close against his other side. It was a good reminder, after all the troubles the three of them had come through to be together, that maybe things could work out, given enough time, and effort from all parties. It wasn't a perfect analogy, but it was a pleasant and hopeful thought, and a more comforting end to the day than he hadh hoped for that morning.


End file.
